Mechanical Alchemist

When Su Lun disembarked from the Sacred Judgment Legion's ship, it was nearly noon.

After chatting for a good half of the day, Su Lun could see that Barrett was very interested in the idea of "New Dawn City."

However, ultimately due to a lack of trust, or perhaps some ingrained old imperial general's mindset, Barrett did not give a definitive reply but said he would consider it.

Su Lun thought that was normal.

Dr. Pickman, having been born in Old Lington and with his connection to Danny, naturally found it easy to accept "the Mirror Organization".

But Barrett was different.

He was a homegrown Royal Knight from Ruying, having been educated from a young age with the nobility-first doctrine. Changing the worldview that had been established wasn't easy and required time to contemplate.

Moreover, he had to consider the well-being of the officers on that ship.

Su Lun was not in a hurry.

He thought he would ask again when he had successfully created the "Hand of Silver".

But the prerequisite was that in the meantime, these people from the Sacred Judgment Legion didn't get annihilated.

Now, with Barrett's arm amputated, his combat strength had decreased, and staying in Pirate City was not safe. If he didn't join a major pirate group, he would be eventually pushed out by the pirates.

However, their situation had somewhat improved; with the supply from Su Lun, Barrett and his people got a chance to breathe.

They were also ready to set sail immediately.

....

The news that the Sacred Judgment group suddenly left the port spread quickly throughout Pirate City.

While everyone was speculating who had dared to provide them with supplies, Su Lun was already staying in a hotel.

He had obtained the "Neuro-Mechanics Blueprints", and now needed a lot of time and effort to assimilate that knowledge.

Moreover, from this trade, he had acquired a considerable amount of "Activating Silver", which he wanted to begin studying for creating alchemical golems and to overcome the technical issue of attaching Barrett's severed arm.

In room 406 of the Big Waves Hotel, Su Lun had not left for two days.

The bed, the walls, the tables, and even the air, everywhere was hung with blueprints.

Upon close examination, one could see detailed anatomical drawings of arms on those blueprints—muscles, bones, nerves, blood vessels... dense with data parameters.
Find more chapters on My Virtual Library Empire

The high development of Su Lun's brain domain allowed him to memorize almost all the content of the blueprints given by Dr. Pickman within just a couple of days. But the complexity of neuro-mechanics technology far exceeded any kind of alchemy or technological blueprints he had seen before.

Even with the fragmented memories he had stripped before, he felt that he now understood only about twenty percent of it.

However, understanding could be slowly digested like Ajin would do; he was now preparing to combine some of the neuro-technology with alchemical golem techniques to create "Hand of Silver".

Making a bionic arm wasn't as simple as kneading a hand model. It was more like 3D printing, meticulously creating "silverized tissue" etched with runes layer by layer, then assembling them. The process was both tedious and complex. Bones, flesh, fingers, joints... Only when the bionic silver arm mirrored the structure of a human arm to the greatest extent, would it achieve a sufficiently "bionic" effect.

Activating Silver was highly toxic when volatilized; at that moment, Su Lun was wearing a plague doctor's mask, with the eight-armed spider lance unfurled behind him, tinkering with his experiment.

On the table,

stood two rows of bottles and jars filled with various alchemical potions,

and a special glass vessel brimming with green liquid.

These had been scavenged from the black market, laboratory-grade equipment that the pirates had plundered from Old Lington.

This also greatly facilitated Su Lun's experiments.

Inside the glass vessel lay several arm-like structures resembling skinned flesh, with the patterns of muscles and blood vessels distinctly visible. Upon closer inspection, a silver iridescence seeped from within the tissue, looking both like flesh and metal.

Su Lun, wearing gloves, fished out an arm.

He glanced at his own schematic with peripheral vision, then turned and connected the arm to the cadaver on the operating table. Stitching the nerves, blood vessels, and tissue together, he injected the neuro fusion serum and pinched the sorcerer's seals; the alchemical formation began to merge.

The whole process was completed in one fluid motion, showing that he had already attempted this many times.

With the "Mental Tentacles" graft, Su Lun had a great advantage in his experiments. Even if the cadaver couldn't speak, it was like he was fitting his own arm, with every sensation clear and distinct.

After the stitching was done, he connected to the cadaver's nervous system on the operating table and controlled it a bit. The newly attached silver arm lifted, and the fingers also moved.

While it seemed to be a success, Su Lun didn't show much joy on his face. He was already aware of some resistance and muttered with a frown, "The fingers are stiff, probably because the deep flexor muscles haven't fused perfectly. But where is this abnormal neural connection signal coming from... Strange, where did the problem arise?"

Trying and trying, he suddenly discovered that the externally connected mental tendrils had completely lost signal feedback from the arm's nerves, and the arm of the zombie dropped down.

Experiment failure was very normal, after all, the conjecture of alchemy golem + neural mechanics was theoretically feasible, but there was still a long way to go in practice.

Having basically confirmed the feasibility of combining the two, it was already a milestone experimental achievement.

Su Lun's expression remained unchanged, as he recorded the progress of the research in his notebook: "Experiment No. #006, first successful connection, shoulder blade of zombie drilled and injected with Potion No. 3, neural connection normal. However, after control attempts, abnormalities in shoulder guard stability discovered. Increased dose of fusion agent, feedback signal interrupted... Experiment failed, conjecture the cause of failure to be flaws in rune adaptability and modeling precision."

His notebook was already filled with various notes.

With each experimental failure, he would carefully comb through and reason backwards to identify the problem, so he could target it in future research.

Su Lun put down the notebook and pondered for a moment, thinking to himself, "The 'Hand of Silver' experiment was preliminarily successful. But to create a silver hand that someone as powerful as Barrett would need, is still far off. The material hardware is fine to talk about, but the software flaws are significant..."

Thinking this, his gaze precisely found the related records among the thousands of pages of diagrams.

After looking for a while, he caught sight of one diagram that sparked an idea in his mind.

"At least a sixth-order Lu Rune is needed to support the structural stability of the arm..."

Su Lun thought of a solution, and his brow slightly furrowed, but this was already beyond his capabilities.

"Alchemy golem" was already a top-tier field in puppetry, most of the technology within it was usually only dealt with by high-level puppeteers.

With the experiment's progress being hindered, Su Lun felt even more the gap in his rune expertise.

"To craft a high-order silver hand, the need to merge that 'Imitated Primeval Rune' is quite urgent..."

Su Lun muttered to himself with a sigh.

Not only alchemy golems but also high-level mechanical equipment needed high-level runes for support.

He also understood what Mr. Hei had once told him: the more one knows in the path of alchemy, the more one feels their own ignorance.

....

Su Lun looked at the time, didn't continue with the experiment, and cut off the silverized arm from the zombie to put it back into the culture dish.

There were still fifteen minutes left until four o'clock in the afternoon.

Earlier, a notice had come from the team, to gather at the docks at four o'clock for a mission.

Though Su Lun had reaped a lot from his trip to Pirate City, he hadn't found any information about "Void Progeny Gear."

Therefore, he intended to maintain his pirate identity for the time being.

He certainly planned to participate in this mission.

In the room, the threads retracted, neatly stacking the numerous diagrams on the table.

With a seal of the Suren Sorcerer's Seal, a black hole appeared in the air. He casually stuffed all the items into the storage space.

After changing into a sloppy pirate outfit, he cleaned up any traces, checked the room for anything left behind, and then left the inn.

The fortress was still bustling.

When Su Lun arrived at the docks, the dozens of ships belonging to their Ninth Fleet were already filled with people.

The pirates were gathered in groups on the decks, bragging and chatting.

As Su Lun reached the White Eagle, Sharp, who was on deck, saw him and, leaning against the ship's side in a commanding position, teased, "Yo, brother Johnny seems to have really worn himself out these past few days. Tsk tsk, pleasure houses are fine, but you've got to exercise some restraint..."

"Hahaha..."

With this remark, the pirates on board showed expressions that all men understood.

For these past few days, everyone had been living in the lap of luxury.

"Hehe..."

Su Lun was aware of his own condition after staying awake for two days and nights, which naturally did not leave him in the best state of mind.

Without denying it, he gave a smile and climbed up the netting onto the ship.

Once on deck, Su Lun noticed that there were many more green-painted boxes neatly lined up.

On the boxes, sprayed with white paint, were labels such as "PG411," "KL125"...

Su Lun recognized them at a glance as munitions crates.

And by those numbers, he guessed that these were products of several major military factories from the Mafa Empire.

As expected, this was the military supply secretly supported by the Mafa Empire for the King of the North Sea.

Looking at the ships nearby, it seemed like each squadron of the Ninth Fleet had been issued some.

Su Lun pretended to be ignorant and asked, "Sharp, what is this?"

"Heh... you don't know, do you? This is a real good thing."

Sharp seemed to know some insider information and said, "Because our Ninth Fleet has been reorganized, Lord Oleg has allocated us a large amount of resources. This batch of military supplies came straight from Mafa, the genuine article. Even the Luying military doesn't have better than this."

Su Lun listened without surprise but still asked, "Why are we suddenly getting equipment? Do we have some kind of mission?"

Sharp shrugged, indicating he wasn't too clear about it nor did he care much, "I heard something about going to the Four Kingdoms, but I don't know whether it's Mountain Hermit or Roman..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun didn't say anything more and just stood around watching the group play cards.

It wasn't long before the acting squadron leader of their ship returned.

As he jumped onto the deck, the man started shouting loudly, "Hey, brothers, good news!"

This big-bearded guy called "Tea Beard" Hans Schmidt had once been the captain of the "Blacksmith Pirate Group". With a bounty of 45 million, greedy and lecherous, he was a somewhat famous pirate. Although he was only fourth-tier, he had now landed the role of acting squadron leader due to the fleet's reorganization.

"Oh, the captain's back!"

"Haha, did our revered leader just come from a meeting? Did he bring back some good news?"

"..."

The crowd looked at the excited smile on Hans's face and gathered around.

Hans pointed at the crates of military supplies on the deck and said, "These supplies from Mafa will be distributed to everyone soon. Lord Peiwen has secured us a very lucrative task..."

He deliberately paused to tease their appetites.

Hearing "very lucrative," the pirates' eyes immediately lit up like a pack of hungry wolves glowing green with greed. An eager voice questioned, "Captain, what kind of good job is it?"

"Hehe... Our Ninth Fleet is going to collect taxes in Mountain Hermit!"

As Hans spoke, he patted his chest, boasting, "I specifically requested for our Squadron 15 to go ahead as the vanguard..."

Hearing it was tax collection rather than a raid, the expressions of the pirates turned odd.

Someone questioned, "Captain, I've heard that Mountain Hermit is poor, with hardly any population to speak of, not even as much as some of the Earl's territories in Luying. How much money can we actually collect from taxing there?"

"That's what you don't know..."

Hans's face held a smug expression, as if he had foreseen some delightful scenarios, "Although Mountain Hermit is poor, the imperial capital Edo Castle is quite prosperous. Furthermore, that place is known for its beautiful women, and it's said that 'the most beautiful maiden under heaven' is in Edo. We are representing Lord Oleg, will they not treat us well?"

After a pause, he added, "Moreover, as the vanguard for the tax collection, once the task is completed, every person will get at least a reward of one hundred thousand lire."

"One hundred thousand?"

Upon hearing that, all the pirates got excited.

They had just finished spending the tens of thousands they'd been given as a resettlement fee, and now this?

The treatment in the North Sea Fleet was indeed very generous.

....

While everyone was excited, Su Lun, amidst the crowd, thought with a trace of speculation in his eyes.

"Tax collection? It seems like Oleg plans to extend his reach deep into the northern Four Kingdoms. But those godly remnants have been autonomous for countless years, would they willingly submit to foreign rule?"

During these days, Su Lun had learned quite a bit about the Four Kingdoms of the North. Although Mountain Hermit was impoverished, it was still a place where the remnants of the gods resided. They had their own unique way of life with many bizarre things, not so easily controlled by outsiders.

A cushy job as the tax collection vanguard?

Su Lun didn't think so.

This "one hundred thousand" reward was not going to be easy to claim.

Such an assertion of sovereignty could easily lead to conflict with the locals.

Moreover, the mission hadn't even started yet, and Su Lun was watching as the pirates on the ship were already calculating what gains they could make from this opportunity.

He felt that the situation was likely to get complicated.

Su Lun didn't dwell on it; he wasn't too knowledgeable about political matters.

But thinking about taking a trip to the Mountain Hermit Kingdom might be just right.

In there, Qiantiao was present, and Rune Old Man too, it would be a good opportunity to handle all matters.

....

A ship full of pirates was noisily discussing the taxation task that filled them with endless speculation, when suddenly, Hans brought out a large box, boasting, "Look what I've got here!"

As he spoke, he opened the box, revealing a pair of purple-glowing biological wings.

Upon seeing the item, Su Lun immediately identified it as a pair of fifth-order black iron quality Alchemy Prostheses—Void Wings!

Ordinary pirates had never seen something so advanced, let alone Void Prostheses.

"Captain, are these Alchemy Prostheses?"

"That's odd, this pattern of the Space Law looks so strange; it's not earth, wind, water, fire..."

"Tch, you just don't get it, huh? These are obviously super rare special prostheses. Am I right, Captain?"

"..."

The underlings heaped praise and conjectures, yet none could discern the origin of these wings.

After a moment, Hans finally introduced with a face full of pride, "These are fifth-order prostheses personally bestowed upon me by Lord Oleg! And they're not made of ordinary materials, but of Void materials!"

"Void Prostheses?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

They looked again at the prostheses in the box, and their faces changed with anticipation, envy, and fervor...

Prostheses containing the supreme Space Law were real rarities, beyond the reach of ordinary professionals. They had only heard rumors that such items occasionally appeared at some top auction events in Luying, nothing the lowly pirates had ever seen.

And now their captain had a pair?

Hans continued, "Heh heh, let me tell you, as long as we serve Lord Oleg well, the rewards will be plentiful in the future. It's not just prostheses—Lord Oleg also granted me a special Potion to break through my current rank. My advancement to the fifth order is imminent!"

With the advancement to the fifth order, he would truly join the ranks of the high-order professionals, and his position as acting captain could become permanent.

Moreover, now armed with the Void Prostheses, his combat capabilities would exceed those of an ordinary fifth-order professional!

Hans could already envision his upcoming glorious days.

"Our Captain is mighty!"

"Hahaha, once the Captain advances to the fifth order and merges with the Void Prostheses, our fifteenth squad will soon become famed!"

"Heh heh... you guys don't need to envy your Captain here. Work hard, stick with Lord Oleg, and there will be plenty of rewards for you in the future!"

"...."

The deck fell into celebration once more.

Su Lun joined the cheers of the crowd, his mind clear as a mirror.

It was indeed a clever move by Oleg, offering a grand promise and a sweetener, winning over these newly recruited pirates to serve him willingly.

The techniques of the higher-ups to govern their subordinates weren't anything to note.

However, now that the Void Prostheses had been revealed, Su Lun saw an opportunity to trace their origin.

It seemed that after proclaiming himself King, Oleg had no intentions of continuing to hide the fact that he had mastered the Void Prostheses; instead, he wanted to display his strength.

....

After the celebration, the fleet prepared to set sail.

As the military equipment was divided up on the deck, the capability of the underlings visibly surged significantly with the upgrade from flintlocks to cannons.

They not only replaced several long-range large-caliber main cannons on the ship with Whale-hunting Alchemical Crossbows but also received many firearms and ammunition, and even a repeating missile launcher.

Even Su Lun, the gunner, was assigned a [MF422 Single-soldier Cannon] with external skeletal support, large caliber, heavy firepower, with devastatingly high lethality.

The military products from Mafa were indeed of exceptional quality, with craftsmanship and various technical parameters far more advanced than their previous equipment—it felt decades ahead.

Su Lun also took a keen interest in studying the detailed structure of this batch of mechanical equipment.

Supplies loaded, the fleet of the ninth squad set sail the next morning, heading towards the Mountain Hermit Kingdom.